George de Godzinsky

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

George de Godzinsky (April 5, 1914, Saint Peterburg, Russia - May 23, 1994, Espoo, Finland) was a Russian-born Finnish composer and conductor. Godzinsky is known from his Schlager music although he composed music for movies and operettas.

Godzinsky was born to a very international family: his father had Polish, Czech, Georgian and Romanian ancestry, and mothers side Godzinsky had Swiss and Dutch origin.

Godzinsky's father was Saint Petersburg-based civil servant and businessman who traded in Finland. During the Russian revolution the family escaped to Finland.

Godzinsky studied at the Helsinki music school from 1930 to 1937. Godzinsky was a pianist for the world famous opera singer Feodor Chaliapin during his Far East tour. Godzinsky played at 57 Chaliapins concerts in Manchuria, China and in Japan. From 1939 Godzinsky became conductor at the Helsinki Swedish Theatre and in Royal Dramatic Theatre and also in the Gothenburg City Theatre. When Godzinsky was a conductor to the Finnish National Opera his biggest performance was from 1959 to 1965 when the opera was performing in the United States, Bergen, Warsaw and in Paris.